This chapter examines Walt Whitman’s poetics of enthusiasm in the 1860 Leaves of Grass, specifically in relationship to John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry and the politics of the Civil War. The ...
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This chapter examines Walt Whitman’s poetics of enthusiasm in the 1860 Leaves of Grass, specifically in relationship to John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry and the politics of the Civil War. The author makes a case for Whitman, not as the national bard of American Unionism and integralism who speaks for all and heals the nation’s fragmentation, but as the bard of American civil war and international sectarianism who speaks only for the enthusiast of justice in a global context and calls for political dismemberment of the Union. First, in an analysis of Civil War rhetoric and responses to John Brown, the chapter demonstrates that enthusiasm enacts a “fractured state,” a will to political dismemberment (civil disunion) in the name of justice towards the slave. Second, the chapter shows how Whitman’s composition of a dismembered self and poetry in the 1860 Leaves is meant to enact an insurrectionary form of democratic camaraderie and love. Next, the author does a close reading of Whitman’s cluster of poems, “Songs of Insurrection,” in order to tease out Whitman’s enthusiastic politics in detail, before turning to Whitman’s application of that enthusiasm while working in Civil War hospitals.Less

The Free State of Whitman : John Brown, the Civil War, and the Dis-memberment of Enthusiasm in the 1860

John Mac Kilgore

Published in print: 2016-11-28

This chapter examines Walt Whitman’s poetics of enthusiasm in the 1860 Leaves of Grass, specifically in relationship to John Brown’s 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry and the politics of the Civil War. The author makes a case for Whitman, not as the national bard of American Unionism and integralism who speaks for all and heals the nation’s fragmentation, but as the bard of American civil war and international sectarianism who speaks only for the enthusiast of justice in a global context and calls for political dismemberment of the Union. First, in an analysis of Civil War rhetoric and responses to John Brown, the chapter demonstrates that enthusiasm enacts a “fractured state,” a will to political dismemberment (civil disunion) in the name of justice towards the slave. Second, the chapter shows how Whitman’s composition of a dismembered self and poetry in the 1860 Leaves is meant to enact an insurrectionary form of democratic camaraderie and love. Next, the author does a close reading of Whitman’s cluster of poems, “Songs of Insurrection,” in order to tease out Whitman’s enthusiastic politics in detail, before turning to Whitman’s application of that enthusiasm while working in Civil War hospitals.

This chapter examines how Walt Whitman fulfilled the duties of the American bard right after giving the title to himself. It begins by considering “A Broadway Pageant,” a poem written by Whitman in ...
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This chapter examines how Walt Whitman fulfilled the duties of the American bard right after giving the title to himself. It begins by considering “A Broadway Pageant,” a poem written by Whitman in the summer of 1860, and situating it within his antebellum career, and goes on to discuss Whitman's association with New York City's working-class “roughs” and his insistence that his poetry is explicitly cosmopolitan in nature. After outlining Whitman's struggles to resolve the tension between his patriotism and his cosmopolitanism, the chapter explains how “A Broadway Pageant” enabled him to articulate his antebellum identity as “Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos.” It then offers a reading of Calamus, a collection of forty-five poems that first appeared in the 1860 Leaves of Grass, and, finally, analyzes how Whitman turned the social stigma of his homosexuality into a template for national unity.Less

Walt Whitman : An American, One of the Roughs, a Kosmos

Edward Whitley

Published in print: 2010-10-11

This chapter examines how Walt Whitman fulfilled the duties of the American bard right after giving the title to himself. It begins by considering “A Broadway Pageant,” a poem written by Whitman in the summer of 1860, and situating it within his antebellum career, and goes on to discuss Whitman's association with New York City's working-class “roughs” and his insistence that his poetry is explicitly cosmopolitan in nature. After outlining Whitman's struggles to resolve the tension between his patriotism and his cosmopolitanism, the chapter explains how “A Broadway Pageant” enabled him to articulate his antebellum identity as “Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos.” It then offers a reading of Calamus, a collection of forty-five poems that first appeared in the 1860 Leaves of Grass, and, finally, analyzes how Whitman turned the social stigma of his homosexuality into a template for national unity.

What is the relationship between poetry and fame? What happens to a reader's experience when a poem invokes its author's popularity? Is there a meaningful connection between poetry and advertising, ...
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What is the relationship between poetry and fame? What happens to a reader's experience when a poem invokes its author's popularity? Is there a meaningful connection between poetry and advertising, between the rhetoric of lyric and the rhetoric of hype? One of the first full-scale treatments of celebrity in nineteenth-century America, this book examines Walt Whitman's lifelong interest in fame and publicity. Making use of notebooks, photographs, and archival sources, the book provides a history of the rise of celebrity culture in the United States. It sees Leaves of Grass alongside the birth of commercial advertising and the nation's growing obsession with the lives of the famous and the renowned. As authors, lecturers, politicians, entertainers, and clergymen vied for popularity, Whitman developed a form of poetry that routinely promoted and, indeed, celebrated itself.Less

Walt Whitman and the Culture of American Celebrity

David Blake

Published in print: 2006-11-01

What is the relationship between poetry and fame? What happens to a reader's experience when a poem invokes its author's popularity? Is there a meaningful connection between poetry and advertising, between the rhetoric of lyric and the rhetoric of hype? One of the first full-scale treatments of celebrity in nineteenth-century America, this book examines Walt Whitman's lifelong interest in fame and publicity. Making use of notebooks, photographs, and archival sources, the book provides a history of the rise of celebrity culture in the United States. It sees Leaves of Grass alongside the birth of commercial advertising and the nation's growing obsession with the lives of the famous and the renowned. As authors, lecturers, politicians, entertainers, and clergymen vied for popularity, Whitman developed a form of poetry that routinely promoted and, indeed, celebrated itself.

This chapter examines Walt Whitman's collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass, focusing on his claim that it was an American sacred text, the “Bible of the New Religion.” It compares Whitman's ambition ...
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This chapter examines Walt Whitman's collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass, focusing on his claim that it was an American sacred text, the “Bible of the New Religion.” It compares Whitman's ambition to be the poet of a new American religion with that of Eliza R. Snow, the recognized poet laureate of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was regarded by the Mormons not only as a poetess but also a “priestess” and a “prophetess.” The chapter considers how Snow used her poetry to depict the recovery of such ancient practices as polygamy and theocracy as an essential precondition for an American millennium, rather than as a historical aberration. It also offers a close reading of “Time and Change,” the major poem of Snow's 1856 collection, before concluding with an analysis of the issue of gender, particularly with respect to Snow's efforts to have her female voice heard by an androcentric nation.Less

Eliza R. Snow : Poet of a New American Religion

Edward Whitley

Published in print: 2010-10-11

This chapter examines Walt Whitman's collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass, focusing on his claim that it was an American sacred text, the “Bible of the New Religion.” It compares Whitman's ambition to be the poet of a new American religion with that of Eliza R. Snow, the recognized poet laureate of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was regarded by the Mormons not only as a poetess but also a “priestess” and a “prophetess.” The chapter considers how Snow used her poetry to depict the recovery of such ancient practices as polygamy and theocracy as an essential precondition for an American millennium, rather than as a historical aberration. It also offers a close reading of “Time and Change,” the major poem of Snow's 1856 collection, before concluding with an analysis of the issue of gender, particularly with respect to Snow's efforts to have her female voice heard by an androcentric nation.

The first of twin treatments of Whitman’s Middle Eastern afterlives, Chapter 5 addresses Leaves of Grass in Hebrew, reading Simon Halkin’s influential translation, his 1952 ‘Alē ‘Ēsev. Poised between antique biblical idioms and contemporary Israeli expression, Halkin’s rendition amplifies tensions original to Whitman’s own verse, replicating his fusion of psalmic form and modernist content. Reaching back to biblical precedents even while promoting experimental innovations, Chapter 5 explores Halkin’s complex attraction to Whitman’s poetic and political ‘pioneering’, rendering a Hebrew Leaves during this crucial period of personal and national self-definition.Less

The New Bible In Hebrew: Whitman and Simon Halkin

Jeffrey Einboden

Published in print: 2013-08-01

The first of twin treatments of Whitman’s Middle Eastern afterlives, Chapter 5 addresses Leaves of Grass in Hebrew, reading Simon Halkin’s influential translation, his 1952 ‘Alē ‘Ēsev. Poised between antique biblical idioms and contemporary Israeli expression, Halkin’s rendition amplifies tensions original to Whitman’s own verse, replicating his fusion of psalmic form and modernist content. Reaching back to biblical precedents even while promoting experimental innovations, Chapter 5 explores Halkin’s complex attraction to Whitman’s poetic and political ‘pioneering’, rendering a Hebrew Leaves during this crucial period of personal and national self-definition.

Concluding the study is the book’s second treatment of Whitman in Middle Eastern language, reading Leaves of Grass as translated by a pioneer of modern Arabic poetry, Saadi Youssef. Published amid ...
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Concluding the study is the book’s second treatment of Whitman in Middle Eastern language, reading Leaves of Grass as translated by a pioneer of modern Arabic poetry, Saadi Youssef. Published amid successive exiles from Iraq, Chapter 6 explores Youssef’s 1976 Awrāq al-‘Ushb, situating this selected Leaves rendition within a broader genealogy of Arabic appeal, reaching to Whitman as a precedent for aesthetic and political liberation. Mirroring the translator’s own physical displacements, Whitman’s verse is displaced from its American specificity within Youssef’s Awrāq, voicing an exilic critique of homelands and home cultures through his refashioned Arabic. Concluding with consideration of Leaves‘ Arabic afterlives in more recent poetry, the study itself ends with a circular inversion, discovering Whitman speaking Arabic in urban America with the 2008 appearance of Youssef’s New York Qaṣīdas.Less

American ‘Song’ of Iraqi Exile: Whitman and Saadi Youssef

Jeffrey Einboden

Published in print: 2013-08-01

Concluding the study is the book’s second treatment of Whitman in Middle Eastern language, reading Leaves of Grass as translated by a pioneer of modern Arabic poetry, Saadi Youssef. Published amid successive exiles from Iraq, Chapter 6 explores Youssef’s 1976 Awrāq al-‘Ushb, situating this selected Leaves rendition within a broader genealogy of Arabic appeal, reaching to Whitman as a precedent for aesthetic and political liberation. Mirroring the translator’s own physical displacements, Whitman’s verse is displaced from its American specificity within Youssef’s Awrāq, voicing an exilic critique of homelands and home cultures through his refashioned Arabic. Concluding with consideration of Leaves‘ Arabic afterlives in more recent poetry, the study itself ends with a circular inversion, discovering Whitman speaking Arabic in urban America with the 2008 appearance of Youssef’s New York Qaṣīdas.

The Watch and Ward Society was very effective at enforcing Protestant mores, especially through lobbying efforts and work as an extralegal police force that strove to enforce the state’s ...
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The Watch and Ward Society was very effective at enforcing Protestant mores, especially through lobbying efforts and work as an extralegal police force that strove to enforce the state’s anti-obscenity laws. The anti-vice society employed three closely related strategies to combat the arguments of free love and free speech activists and to suppress the sale of obscene material. First, reformers lobbied state legislatures to pass more effective anti-obscenity statutes. Second, they demanded that the police enforce the laws, and they investigated book and magazine vendors to aid the police in their work. Finally, they pressured publishers and bookstore owners to refrain from selling objectionable materials. Examining the controversy over the publication of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass in 1882–83 illustrates the organization’s effectiveness.Less

The Protestant Establishment in Action

P. C. Kemeny

Published in print: 2018-02-22

The Watch and Ward Society was very effective at enforcing Protestant mores, especially through lobbying efforts and work as an extralegal police force that strove to enforce the state’s anti-obscenity laws. The anti-vice society employed three closely related strategies to combat the arguments of free love and free speech activists and to suppress the sale of obscene material. First, reformers lobbied state legislatures to pass more effective anti-obscenity statutes. Second, they demanded that the police enforce the laws, and they investigated book and magazine vendors to aid the police in their work. Finally, they pressured publishers and bookstore owners to refrain from selling objectionable materials. Examining the controversy over the publication of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass in 1882–83 illustrates the organization’s effectiveness.

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about Walt Whitman and the culture of American celebrity. This volume explores how Whitman who was better known for political ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about Walt Whitman and the culture of American celebrity. This volume explores how Whitman who was better known for political journalism than verse immersed himself in the culture of celebrity and highlights Whitman's penchant for self-advertisement. It highlights the role of the novel Leaves of Grass in seamlessly meshing language of poetry and publicity and discusses Whitman's view that the story of celebrity would be the story of democracy.Less

Introduction: Frontispiece

David Haven Blake

Published in print: 2006-11-01

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about Walt Whitman and the culture of American celebrity. This volume explores how Whitman who was better known for political journalism than verse immersed himself in the culture of celebrity and highlights Whitman's penchant for self-advertisement. It highlights the role of the novel Leaves of Grass in seamlessly meshing language of poetry and publicity and discusses Whitman's view that the story of celebrity would be the story of democracy.

Free soil, free speech, free verse: though Leaves of Grass appeared under the shadow of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, it was the legislation that returned Lincoln to politics and Thoreau to public ...
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Free soil, free speech, free verse: though Leaves of Grass appeared under the shadow of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, it was the legislation that returned Lincoln to politics and Thoreau to public polemic. This chapter reviews Walt Whitman's poetic masterpiece and the battle over free speech, which was a key ingredient in the making of the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. A reawakened belief in the might of words informs Whitman's outpouring, which simultaneously prophesies and brings into textual being its vision of an egalitarian republic. But despite the imaginative inclusiveness of 1855, Whitman, no abolitionist, harbored misgivings about agitation that ultimately resurfaced, and his conception of song as action did not outlast the Civil War. His ideological retreat—he evolved into a foe of black rights and a supporter of Andrew Johnson—played itself out on the level of language, subtly in Leaves of Grass, more obviously in prose pieces written during and after Reconstruction.Less

Whitman: From Sayer-Doer to Sayer-Copyist

Michael T. Gilmore

Published in print: 2010-07-30

Free soil, free speech, free verse: though Leaves of Grass appeared under the shadow of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, it was the legislation that returned Lincoln to politics and Thoreau to public polemic. This chapter reviews Walt Whitman's poetic masterpiece and the battle over free speech, which was a key ingredient in the making of the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. A reawakened belief in the might of words informs Whitman's outpouring, which simultaneously prophesies and brings into textual being its vision of an egalitarian republic. But despite the imaginative inclusiveness of 1855, Whitman, no abolitionist, harbored misgivings about agitation that ultimately resurfaced, and his conception of song as action did not outlast the Civil War. His ideological retreat—he evolved into a foe of black rights and a supporter of Andrew Johnson—played itself out on the level of language, subtly in Leaves of Grass, more obviously in prose pieces written during and after Reconstruction.

This chapter offers a reading of Walt Whitman's novel Leaves of Grass. It highlights the difficulty of interpreting this novel without first taking a position on several other issues that demand ...
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This chapter offers a reading of Walt Whitman's novel Leaves of Grass. It highlights the difficulty of interpreting this novel without first taking a position on several other issues that demand one's attention for extraneous reasons and in coming to terms with Whitman not merely as the author of certain poems, but as a phenomenon of American culture. It also discusses arguments about Whitman's sensitivity and the view that he ignored the fatal antiquity of human nature in this novel.Less

Leaves of Grass

Denis Donoghue

Published in print: 2005-05-10

This chapter offers a reading of Walt Whitman's novel Leaves of Grass. It highlights the difficulty of interpreting this novel without first taking a position on several other issues that demand one's attention for extraneous reasons and in coming to terms with Whitman not merely as the author of certain poems, but as a phenomenon of American culture. It also discusses arguments about Whitman's sensitivity and the view that he ignored the fatal antiquity of human nature in this novel.